MONROE, La. (3/3/18) – Lauren Bradshaw tied a career-high with 24 points and Morgan Wallace turned a career best 20 points as the Arkansas State women’s basketball team erased at 13-point halftime deficit to defeat Louisiana-Monroe 80-73 on Saturday afternoon at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.

The Red Wolves (15-14, 10-8 SBC) trailed 39-26 at the halftime break, but Wallace and Bradshaw combined to score 38 points in the second half to lead A-State to the comeback victory. Each also added 11 rebounds to their afternoons to finish with double-doubles, the first of Wallace’s career, while Starr Taylor scored 12 points and dished six assists to pace the Red Wolves.

Bradshaw scored 20 points and had eight rebounds in the second half, while Wallace scored 18 of her 20 points in the third and fourth quarters. The duo also helped spark a 12-0 in the fourth quarter that put Arkansas State out in front for good.

Arkansas State 41 percent (26-of-63) from the field and grabbed 40 rebounds, while ULM went 23-of-58 (40 percent) from the field but had just 29 boards in the contest. The Warhawks made 12, 3-pointers on the day including four each from Gabriella Cortez and Alexus Johnson. Cortez led ULM with 26 points.

How It Happened (First Half):

ULM went on a 12-0 run in the second quarter to build at 34-22 lead. The run saw the Red Wolves go without scoring for over four minutes, while the Warhawks hit three, 3-pointer during the stretch.

After a slow start to the game from both teams, ULM caught fire from beyond the arc in the first quarter and continued to shoot well from long range in the second quarter. ULM finished the half 6-of-14 from beyond the arc. A-State shot just 29 percent in from the field, while ULM hit 46 percent of shots from the field.

How It Happened (Second Half):

The Red Wolves quickly worked the erase the deficit in the second half and used a 15-2 run at the start of the third quarter to tie the game at 41-41. ULM took the lead on a 3-pointer by Cortez, but Wallace answered with a trey of her own and then put her team out in front a few player by getting a putback on a Bradshaw miss to go up 47-46 with 2:46 left in the quarter, but the Warhawks and worked to even the score at 51-51 by the end of the frame.

Wallace and Bradshaw combined to score 19 of A-State’s 25 points in the period.

ULM opened the fourth quarter with two quick 3-pointers by Cortez to go up 57-53, but A-State answered in a big way and went on a 12-0 run over a 2:39 span to take the lead for good. Wallace and Bradshaw combined to score eight points during the run.

ULM worked the lead down to 71-65 with 3:19 to go but could get no closer as the Red Wolves went 7-of-10 from the free throw line down the stretch to put the game away.

Bradshaw and Wallace combined for 38 points in the second half and were a combined 11-of-16 from the field. As a team the Red Wolves shot 57.1 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes and scored on 68 percent of their possessions.

Notables:

Lauren Bradshaw tied a career-high with 24 points, which she also against ULM earlier this year.

The 15 point deficit the Red Wolves faced in the second quarter is their largest come from behind victory this season.

Starr Taylor finished one assist shy of matching her career best of seven assists.

The Red Wolves’ 18 assists are tied for the most in a game this year.

Quoting Coach Boyer:

“I thought we played really well early in the game and I think our first or six possessions of the game were really good looks but they just weren’t going in and then all of sudden ULM starting hitting shots and they made some 3-pointers and you could just see that it deflated us.”

“Morgan was just all over the place for us today and had six offensive rebounds as a point guard and Lauren turned another great performance but I said in the locker room that I thought Starr Taylor energized this team in the second half and her defensive pressure was just phenomenal.